Popular BPA water bottles to be discontinued

This week I reported that Canada’s health agency is currently examining the health risks of bisphenol-a, or BPA and is said to be ready to declare the chemical as toxic and that this will likely lead to a partial or complete ban on food-related uses of plastics made using in Canada.

Now, Nalgene, which produces the ubiquitous water bottles that are so popular because they are lightweight, colorful and virtually indestructable, will stop using the BPA plastic because of growing concern over its toxicity. The company is located in Rochester, NY.

Many of Canada’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart Canada, are no longer selling food-related products made with plastics containing the compound chemical, like baby bottles, toddler sipping cups and food containers.

Wal-Mart in the United States, which already sells some BPA-free baby bottles, says it’s going to stop selling BPA baby bottles early next year.

“Based on all available scientific evidence, we continue to believe that Nalgene products containing BPA are safe for their intended use,” a company official said in a statement quoted by the New York Times. “However, our customers indicated they preferred BPA-free alternatives, and we acted in response to those concerns.”

Although the chemical industry maintains that polycarbonate bottles contain little BPA and leach traces considered too low to harm humans, critics point to an influx of animal studies linking low doses to a wide variety of ailments – from breast and prostate cancer, obesity and hyperactivity, to miscarriages and other reproductive failures.